Elizabeth Mawson

Elizabeth Anne Mawson (née Burlington; 14 February 1927 – 16 February 2008) was a Canadian mezzo-soprano born in Toronto, Ontario, whose career encompassed opera, operetta, and musical theatre. She died in Toronto at the age of 81.

Mawson performed with the Toronto Light Opera Association alongside her husband, the bass-baritone Howard Mawson. Following that organization's closure, she appeared in 1957 with the Opera Festival Association of Toronto, taking on the roles of Hanna in The Merry Widow and Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel. In the 1960s she continued her operatic work with the Canadian Opera Company, the successor to the Opera Festival Association, where her roles included Martha in Faust and Flora in La traviata. During the same period she performed at the Stratford Festival as Hebe in H.M.S. Pinafore and Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro. Her Broadway appearance came in 1960, when she was credited in H.M.S. Pinafore. Among her other roles was Miss Todd in Gian-Carlo Menotti's The Old Maid and the Thief.

Mawson became closely associated with the role of Marilla in Anne of Green Gables at the Charlottetown Festival, where she performed the part for nearly 30 years. She also appeared in Canadian touring productions of the show in 1970, 1973, 1980, and 1986.

Following her death, her sons Douglas and Allan established the Elizabeth Mawson Theatre Legacy Fund to honor her memory. The fund, held within the Confederation Centre of the Arts Foundation, provides support for scriptwriters, choreographers, performers, songwriters, and directors, and enables read-throughs and workshops for new development projects at the Charlottetown Festival.